Physical fitness is an important component of a person's over-all health or well-being. It has been scientifically shown that people who are physically fit are less susceptible to heart attacks and certain circulatory ailments. In addition to this decreased chance of sickness or disease, such people are also thought to be better able to cope with the rigors of modern life due to a general feeling of health, increased energy, etc. In accordance with these findings, a large industry has evolved to satisfy the needs of the consuming public for various types of exercising equipment. Although some of this equipment is provided for cardiovascular sports such as jogging or running, a large number of devices are also marketed to help improve skin tone and muscular strength.
Various exercising devices have been developed for use in building muscular strength. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 775,718 to Bitter and 2,666,640 to Jennings. Bitter discloses an exercising machine which is somewhat similar in function to a set of parallel bars. Jennings discloses a collapsible exercising stand which one can use in doing push-ups, etc. More complex types of stand have also been devised. Such stands are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,659,844 and 3,819,176 to Cummins. However, these stands include various movable or pivotable rings or tables. Accordingly, these "more complex" stands are more expensive to manufacture and thus obviously more expensive to purchase. This increased expense is a deterrent to use of these stands which use after all is the desirable end goal of all exercising equipment. Thus, in this regard, these stands by discouraging such use are disadvantageous.
One problem with most prior art exercising devices is that they are generally usable only as an exercising device. People who begin an exercising program often do not continue the program at a uniform pace. There may be large amounts of time in which the exercising program is temporarily discontinued. For such people, the exercising device during this time has no value and in fact lays idle. This also discourages use of exercising equipment since some people who would otherwise buy such equipment feel that the cost is still too prohibitive for the limited amount of use which the equipment might receive.
Some exercising devices are also useful for other purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,545,527 to Stevens discloses an exercising device which is also convertible into a chair. The Jennings patent noted above discloses that a small table top may be clipped on top of the exercising stand to convert the stand into an occasional table. However, both of these devices involve equipment which to some extent looks like an exercising stand, thereby detracting from its appearance as a piece of furniture. In addition, these devices require that some additional operation or act be performed in converting the equipment. For example, in Stevens, the legs of the chair are pivotable and must be pivotted downwardly when converting the stand into an exerciser. The pivotable legs detract from the appearance of the chair and also require a positive step by the operator to convert the chair into the exerciser. Similarly, the table top of Jennings must be positively clipped onto the exercising stand. In addition, when the table top is not in use, it must be stored in an out of the way location. This discourages use of the Jennings device by people who have a limited amount of storage space or room, such as those who often live in apartments.